First of all, thank you so much Gav for the very kind words, and you are exactly right, this discussion is very much about what makes us tick.
I am glad to hear from Jeff, whom I have always deeply respected not only as a friend, but an incredibly knowledgable and discerning collector who has always entered in discussions wonderfully astute observations. His well thought out and beautifully said post here does indeed bring forward an extremely valid point. As the apparantly deeply conflicting perspectives of the commercialized and scholarly investigative factions are becoming more clearly exposed, and everyone is gratefully being quite candid, perhaps I must be as well.
I have collected and studied weapons for most of my life. Although I never had a great deal of money, I used layaway plans to full advantage. I used to joke about having 'sword payments', and the final payment and the arrival of a new treasure was the 'carrot' that kept me going through many difficult times. In order to quell the anxiety of the wait, I used to study all I could find on each new 'adventure' as I called them, and learn as much as I could.
Soon the quest for knowledge on the weapons became the driving force, and I never forgot how hard it was to find information. I did not have dealers or contacts or even other collector friends, and computers had not happened yet. I began buying books, and writing letters, even boldly to the authors who wrote the books, and astounded when they graciously wrote back.
I was amazed that these 'pillars' of the arms and armour world would take the time to write to me, what could I possibly offer in return?
Quite frankly I do what I do here because it is how I learn, just as I did in those early days, when many of the venerable giants of the arms world wrote back to me, unconditionally, and openly shared thier knowledge. I am proud to know them, and they have always been my heroes, I have felt fortunate that they cared enough to consider me worthy of thier thoughtful responses.
Those who have since passed on are often in my thoughts, and I treasure the letters they wrote pressed in the pages of thier oft cited books.
While I am certainly no giant in the arms world, not an expert in any field, nor lettered scholar or author of note, I have learned a great deal, and I am happy to share what I can here. I continue to learn with others. It is my way of returning in kind what has been given to me, and continues to be with the generous sharing of weapons and collections here. While my collecting days are over, it is wonderful to vicariously view and learn from the fantastic items that come up daily, and see artwork and museums that I would otherwise never see.
My goal has always been to advance the study of arms and armour in every way possible, and to preserve what is learned for historians, collectors, and even dealers, where perhaps the knowledge gained will level the playing ground. I can see where this would be a source of dismay for those who seek commercial gain, but as for me, though I am as far from being rich as one can imagine in money, what I have gained here, with all of you, cannot be measured in dollars or cents.
Certainly it is typically necessary to buy or sell to succeed in collecting, but as has been said, how is gaining and sharing knowledge or straightforward action compromising such activity? As for being paid for research, has anyone known of someone paid to research a weapon? Appraisals are quite different as they are legally used usually for insurance as well as sales, and the costs reflect potential liability issues.
I used to always believe that it was a kind thing to do, not to lie or mislead someone in giving them a false compliment, but to compliment them on the outstanding feature that was indeed valid. Instead of calling something 'tourist junk' , say it is a nice commercial representation of a very traditional piece, without unnecessary derision. Sometimes there is no way to avoid calling it as it is, but blunt comments are simply unkind and of little use. Perhaps noting what to watch out for in similar items might help other readers from making such mistakes.
As always, never brief
but my perspective,
Jim